phone upgrade question

[HydroSqueegee]

I'm pretty dumb when it comes to phones and plans and such, so here's a question:

My cell plan is with AT&T. I have 3 lines. One smart phone and 2 dumb phones. i want to upgrade person A's phone to a Smartphone, but its not eligible for another 6 months. so if i want to upgrade, ittl cost $$$. Person B's dumb phone can be upgraded now. Could i just upgrade phone B (and get all the ridiculous plans to go with it), give it to person A and swap the SIMs and have everything work hunky dory?

 

[alent1234]

i would call AT&T, people always do this

 

[Doublejr]

As far as I know you can upgrade the phone on another line and swap the sim out. You loose the upgrade on that line, but you can do the same thing with the other line when it is available for upgrade.

 

[pm]

Yes, you can do as you suggested. You can even upgrade person B's dumb phone, sign up for the data plan, get the phone, swap SIMs from upgrade B phone, give person B back their dumb phone and then drop the data plan later... as long as you don't upgrade person B's dumb phone to an iPhone. For whatever reason, at AT&T iPhones are treated differently and you can't drop the data plan on an iPhone before the end of the contact. But for Windows Mobile and Android phones, you can upgrade, and then drop the data plan after a month as long as person B is using a dumb phone..

 

[HydroSqueegee]

Yes, you can do as you suggested. You can even upgrade person B's dumb phone, sign up for the data plan, get the phone, swap SIMs from upgrade B phone, give person B back their dumb phone and then drop the data plan later... as long as you don't upgrade person B's dumb phone to an iPhone. For whatever reason, at AT&T iPhones are treated differently and you can't drop the data plan on an iPhone before the end of the contact. But for Windows Mobile and Android phones, you can upgrade, and then drop the data plan after a month as long as person B is using a dumb phone..

thats the thing person A (my wife) finally realized she wants an iphone, but she cant upgrade yet. but the line B can. So i can just upgrade B, and swap the sims? how does the data plan work out for this if it starts with B, but has person A's card?

 

[pm]

So i can just upgrade B, and swap the sims? how does the data plan work out for this if it starts with B, but has person A's card?

Yes. The number/plan/contract follows the SIM. So you buy a phone for B, take out the SIM, put A's SIM in B's new smartphone and that smartphone is now A's. A (your wife) is very happy. Meanwhile take B's SIM (from the smartphone and) put it back in the dumbphone and about the only bad thing is that B. now is locked to a data plan for 2 years on a phone that can't use data.

The only problem with all of this is that iPhones use microSIM's and everyone else (more or less) doesn't.

So one trick - which I am using now - is to just line up a microSIM into a SIM slot and use that. Just line up the contacts and let friction hold it in place. This is my full SIM phone, with a microSIM in it. http://i.imgur.com/JRD5x.jpg?1 Alternatively if you need to fit a full SIM into a microSIM phone you can get a microSIM to use as a template and use a pair of scissors to cut the full SIM. And, if all of this hacking isn't your thing, go to an AT&T store and just ask them for a new full-SIM/microSIM and they will either give you new ones for free, or charge you ~$5 each.

And similar to the SIM thing, if all of this moving SIMs around gets too confusing, just go to an AT&T store and tell them what you want to do and they can make it happen. I chose to do it myself, but a co-worker just told the AT&T storepeople the situation and what he wanted and they magically made it happen for him. Just make sure it's a "real" AT&T store and not an "authorized AT&T reseller".

 

[HydroSqueegee]

Yes. The number/plan/contract follows the SIM. So you buy a phone for B, take out the SIM, put A's SIM in B's new smartphone and that smartphone is now A's. A (your wife) is very happy. Meanwhile take B's SIM (from the smartphone and) put it back in the dumbphone and about the only bad thing is that B. now is locked to a data plan for 2 years on a phone that can't use data.

The only problem with all of this is that iPhones use microSIM's and everyone else (more or less) doesn't.

So one trick - which I am using now - is to just line up a microSIM into a SIM slot and use that. Just line up the contacts and let friction hold it in place. This is my full SIM phone, with a microSIM in it. http://i.imgur.com/JRD5x.jpg?1 Alternatively if you need to fit a full SIM into a microSIM phone you can get a microSIM to use as a template and use a pair of scissors to cut the full SIM. And, if all of this hacking isn't your thing, go to an AT&T store and just ask them for a new full-SIM/microSIM and they will either give you new ones for free, or charge you ~$5 each.

And similar to the SIM thing, if all of this moving SIMs around gets too confusing, just go to an AT&T store and tell them what you want to do and they can make it happen. I chose to do it myself, but a co-worker just told the AT&T storepeople the situation and what he wanted and they magically made it happen for him. Just make sure it's a "real" AT&T store and not an "authorized AT&T reseller".

so B is locked into the data plan, but A uses it for their phone, correct? line B will always be a dumb phone, so im not worried about data plans for it.

I'll stroll on down to the AT&T store some time this week and see what they can do.

 

[pm]

so B is locked into the data plan, but A uses it for their phone, correct? line B will always be a dumb phone, so im not worried about data plans for it.

I'll stroll on down to the AT&T store some time this week and see what they can do.

Not exactly. B is locked into a data plan that they can't use and A needs their own data plan. But if you talk to an AT&T store rep, they can probably magically take B's data plan and give it to A.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Just tell them you want to use B's upgrade on line A and they will take care of it for you. I've done this several times now and from what the salespeople have told me it's incredibly common.